The Pentagon pays a group of people to review porn — here's what they banned from military bases

Porn
actresses line-up at the opening of the "Venus" erotic fair in
Berlin October 17, 2013. The event, which represents the erotic
business in the German capital, is open till October 20,
2013.REUTERS/Fabrizio
Bensch

The Pentagon has a group of people who, quite literally, review
pornography for the US military.

It's not a review that gives a play-by-play of the
action. Instead, a board of military and civilian officials has
to review material and determine whether it's "sexually
explicit," as it's against the law for hardcore porn to be sold or rented on military bases.

Though the regulation has been in effect for quite some time
and remains so, a source recently tipped us to a Freedom of
Information Act request at the website Government
Attic that offered a few more details on the inner
workings of this review process, and what kind of titles the
board banned for sale to US troops.

The earliest year of banned titles that the FOIA uncovered was
from 2008, which included magazines titled "Nasty Housewives" and
"Cheri." The 2006 board included magazines such as "30
Something," "Raunchy Couples," "Young & Stacked," and videos
"Beach Babes 2," "Bikini Traffic School," and "Obsessed with
Lust."

The 2006 board reviewed many more video titles and deemed them to
be "not sexually explicit," which included some from Playboy
and talk show host Jerry Springer, such as "Bad Boys &
Naughty Girls" and "Too Hot for TV." Apparently, Jerry Springer
is not too hot for the troops to watch.

The DoD doesn't ban all media that has nudity in it,
and service members can walk into their post exchange and
pick up a magazine such as Playboy, Maxim, and FHM, for example.
It bans what is deemed "sexually explicit" material, which it
defines as nudity that is depicted in a lascivious way.
Lascivious, the regulation says, is material that is "lewd and
intended or designed to elicit a sexual response."

Though even this definition is left up to interpretation. Some
have called for the DoD to ban all porn,
"lascivious" or not.

It seems strange that military members, most of whom are over the
age of 18, are not allowed to buy pornography on a military base.
Though they can go off-base to get it, and there's nothing saying
troops can't view it online.

"I believe this proposed rule is not only an excellent example of
agency waste, but a direct infringement of Constitutional Rights
that employment by the DoD in any manner cannot supersede," one
person wrote of the regulation, for the public
comment period at the Federal Register.

"So not only can a man or woman be sent into harm's way without
questioning the reasons for being sent, but they can't even
purchase from the exchange or PX material that is
deemed lascivious?" wrote another.

Cpl.
Andre Dakis/USMC

How it all works

The ban of porn on PX shelves stems from a 1996 law called the
Military Honor and Decency Act. The law sought to restrict sales
and rentals of sexually explicit material on bases, and though it
was challenged on first amendment grounds, it was upheld as
constitutional by an appeals court in 1997. The porn "censorship board" held its first meeting on
July 29, 1998.

According to meeting minutes released under FOIA of what is
called the Resale Activities Board of Review, it takes about a
day or two for the Pentagon to figure out what is and is not
porn.

Once everyone is present, the Board is called into session by its
chairman. Members, who are either members of the military or DoD
civilians, represent each branch of service. Typically, the chair
goes over the regulation again with the members before presenting
the material for review. In 2006, the board looked at 18
magazines and 6 videos. In 2007 and 2008, they checked out 23 and
24 magazines, respectively.

After they've reviewed the materials, they vote by secret ballot,
the documents show. And once it's deemed "sexually explicit,"
it's supposed to come off the shelves.